Quick overview
Demo Video: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7501978993257148416/
This workflow tracks employee probation periods in Google Sheets, sends scheduled Slack reminders as deadlines approach, collects new-hire probation details via an n8n form, and records final probation outcomes from manager emoji reactions in Slack with email confirmations via Gmail.
How it works
- Runs daily on a schedule to pull all employee probation records from Google Sheets.
- Calculates each employee’s probation deadline (using StartDate + Duration or ExtendedUntil) and posts the appropriate 30/15/0-day reminder message to Slack when due.
- Updates the employee’s record in Google Sheets to mark that a reminder tier was sent.
- Receives new employee probation details from an n8n Form trigger, validates the submission, and checks Google Sheets to prevent duplicate Employee IDs.
- If accepted, appends/updates the employee entry in Google Sheets and sends a confirmation email to the manager via Gmail; if rejected, it emails the manager the rejection reason.
- Triggers when a Slack reaction is added, extracts the Employee ID from the reacted reminder message, and looks up the matching employee row in Google Sheets.
- Validates that the emoji maps to a decision and that the reactor matches the assigned manager, then updates Google Sheets with the decision (or a 30-day extension) and posts confirmations to Slack, including an offboarding alert if the employee is terminated.
Setup
- Connect Slack credentials and set the correct channel ID(s) for where reminders are posted and where reactions are monitored.
- Connect a Google Sheets service account and ensure the target spreadsheet includes the required columns (EmployeeID, EmployeeName, ManagerName, ManagerEmail, ManagerSlackID, StartDate, Duration, Status, RemindersSent, ExtendedUntil, DecisionDate, DecidedBy, DecisionChannel, DecisionMessageTs).
- Connect Gmail OAuth2 credentials for sending manager notification emails.
- Update the default manager fields (Manager Name, Manager Email, Manager Slack ID) used during intake, or replace this step with a lookup to populate manager details automatically.
- Share the n8n Form URL for “New Employee Probation Intake” with whoever submits new employee probation entries.